


Life As We Knew It

by hevevols



Category: Free!
Genre: Angst, Depression, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Natural Disasters, Survival, Survivor Guilt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-04
Updated: 2015-02-25
Packaged: 2018-03-10 06:01:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3279422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hevevols/pseuds/hevevols
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No-one suspected the incoming earthquake, after all, no-one ever does, especially in  Iwatobi. In an instant, life as they knew it would never be the same again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Life changer

At the time, Makoto was sleeping. At first, he thought it was his mother waking him up; that would have been normal for him... But when he heard screaming he knew something was wrong.

~The day before~

"Hey, Haru!" Makoto had been jogging down the boardwalk when he noticed Haru sitting on the beach just looking at the water. Haru turned his head in Makoto's direction.

"Makoto..." At this distance he couldn't tell if he was surprised or indifferent .

"You okay?" Makoto asked, walking closer; a couple of  meters away he noticed his fiend's expression. "Haru...?" He looked completely out of it. At the same time it answered and raised questions to why he hadn't already stripped and dived in 

"Something feels wrong." He turned back to stare out at the water, unblinking. Well, it was confirmed, Haru was passing a chance to swim. _To swim_. This sort of thing didn't really happen.

"If you're feeling off, you can always do something normal to balance it out." Haru didn't look at him but Makoto cold see a contemplating look in his eyes. "So, if you don't want to swim, you can come jogging with me." He gave a warm smile hoping it would push his case. Haru looked a little conflicted for a few moments, between leaving the beach and ocean and going off jogging there would normally be no competition; it was nice though, for him to be chosen over somewhere with water in the end .

Knowing Haru wasn't all that fast on land they left at a steady pace following the coastal route. It was peaceful that evening, everyone was happily completing their last chores under the fading sun before retiring inside.

Occasionally they were greeted by an acquaintance or neighbour with remarks on the weather or pleasantries and how nice it was to see them running together again which Makoto always replied to gladly. It felt good to be doing this again, just spending time with Haru; not in lessons or training for a competition. Just free time together. With all the competitions and final year exams they had been pretty busy but now they were just free to do whatever. It was refreshing for him but he knew just about anything Haru did was _free_ , it made him that bit more special than other people. He just did what he wanted to do, whether that was swim or eat mackerel or just spend time with his friends. Of course, Makoto already knew Haru was special, he'd been around him long enough. Haru always had been important to him so it was nice to have the hint that, just maybe, he was important to Haru too.

As the Sun started to set, Haru pulled behind. Makoto stopping himself a little further ahead to stare back, a little surprised by Haru's abrupt stop.

"You should probably head home, Makoto. Your family will be waiting for you." Makoto seemed to finally notice the increasing darkness.

"Yeah, it must be getting pretty late, huh? Why don't we jog together until the stairs then?" Haru nodded and with one last glance towards to ocean, caught up to Makoto. They jogged in silence until Makoto's house where they gave their usual brief goodbyes and went their separate ways.

It was a usual dinner for Makoto too. Waiting for their meal, the twins bombarded Makoto with questions over Haru before eventually getting bored and whispering to each other; he had the sinking suspicion that it was about them having the development of 'late night jogs'. Deciding the topic needed changing, he quickly asked his dad how his job was going. After dinner it wasn't long before he was in bed and asleep.

That's when it happened. At the time, Makoto was sleeping. At first, he thought it was his mother waking him up; that would have been normal for him... But when he heard screaming he knew something was wrong. It had been the violent shaking that first woke him up; then the screams and the crashes brought him back to lucidity. After that, the lights went out.

* * *

5:46am, Iwatobi, normally considered a safe zone, was hit by an earthquake. 7.2 on the Richter scale with an epicentre approximately 30km out to sea.

Many lost their lives in the 30 seconds the earthquake lasted and many more were killed and injured by the falling buildings, shattering glass and other debris after the initial shock.

It was preceded by 3 aftershocks that killed even more. Despite the town's sparse population, there was no mercy from the forces of nature. 

* * *

In spite of the darkness, Makoto jumped out of his bed. His first thoughts were of his family, and of Haru. He stumbled around blindly, eyes stinging and lungs burning from the unsettled dust and plaster in the air. When his eyes grew accustomed, he could see clearly that some of his roof had fallen in.

"REN? RAN?" He called, bursting out his door. He heard a weak reply coming from the bedroom soon joined by the voices of his parents calling all their names. He crashed into his siblings' room to find then huddled on Ran's bed, tears streaming down their faces.

"Come on guys, this way. We've got to get to mum and dad." As if on cue he heard a crash and approaching footsteps. Soon his parents hurdled in, crooning over them after finding their children safe. After a few brief moments he heard his father's voice.

"We've got to get outside; into open space." He sounded a little detached from the situation but then again, none of it seemed real. The group staggered out into the corridor towards the stairs only to find them blocked, yet another spot where the roof had collapsed in.

"Wait a second, I'm going to get a ladder." Makoto reassured his family before lifting himself over the banister, as the tallest it made sense; he would, after all, have the shortest drop. Landing heavily, Makoto quickly observed the damage downstairs before fetching the ladder. He brought it back, setting in front of where his family were standing, helping the twins down first then his mother then his father. His father then continued to herd the all outside onto the road. 

Other families were already there, some weren't. The actual road itself had a rift and cars were overturned. He saw people looking afraid, people crying, people calling for help. He did the best he could shifting rubble before he realised one, incredibly significant detail missing. Haru. He wasn't on the streets yet, was he trapped?

"I'm going after Haru!" He called, checking for acknowledgement before running up the stairs. He took a second in his running to look at the town, he could already see raging fires and the futile attempts to extinguish them as well as other rescue parties, it was almost encouraging to see such community spirit. When he reached the Nanase residence, he saw their roof had also collapsed but the house had solid foundations and was made mostly from stone and other solid materials, most of it should be ok. He hurdled inside.

"HARU! HARU!" Makoto sprinted up to his friend room dodging the scattered debris and the parts of celling that continued to fall. He burst into the room.

"HARU!" It was... Empty. Was this good or bad? He searched the rest of the house, briefly checking the rubble for signs of life. Where else could Haru be this early?

 

Haru was on the beach when it happened. He couldn't sleep and journeyed outside to find solace in the ocean's presence; this time he had gone to the cove, or rather on top of it, on a raised platform of stone nearing the size of a cliff. His natural reaction was to panic when the very earth starting shaking him, throwing his body around like a ragdoll. He might have been fine if he wasn't by the rocks. His head hit the stone with a sickening crack and he fell still. Lying by the edge helpless, his vision fading, Haru barely whispered one word before passing out.

"Makoto..." 

He woke up a little later. His attempts to sit up only met by a sharp pain in his head. He brought his hand up to the source of the pain to find it slick with blood, some already matting his hair. No wonder his head hurt. Acknowledging his situation, Haru instead turning to the ocean once more only to see a large wave heading in his direction. Objectively, he through 'large wave' was probably a mild expression for a building tsunami. With renewed motivation, Haru ignored his throbbing head to stand up and haphazardly stagger towards higher ground, occasionally swaying. He didn't fancy dying today.

Makoto had been helping rescue the trapped when he heard the call.

"Tsunami!"

The one word was all that was needed to turn everyone's eyes to the ocean. It was coming fast, already 10 meters or so  as it entered the shallow water; it would only keep growing. The rescue attempts doubled in the citizen's desperation and some people were already ushering the kids and elderly over to higher ground. The wave was almost at the beach now and everyone around him were showing clear signs of panic and distress; they were, after all, only human. He was passed by other families, couples and  groups from around the town as he continued to throw aside rubble, somehow hoping to find Haru alive, just buried beneath. It was only a few moment that he was dragged away by his father, his mother had already taken Ren and Ran to the top of the hill. When people saw his desperate reluctance to leave, he was taken away forcefully. After reaching the top of the hill, Makoto looked back over to the ocean before something, someone, caught his attention. There was a small figure stumbling away from the wave; even from this distance it was unmistakably Haru. What had he been doing on the beach? It was barely 6am! He rushed forward to find himself restrained by strong hands; distantly hearing the warning not to go down there as he struggled to escape. The wave hit the shore. Haru was hardly beyond the edge of the beach when he was caught up in the tsunami's assault. He watched his friend get engulfed in the water. He watched him disappear from in front of his eyes. Haru was gone. Nothing else seemed relevant now. Even as he watched the destructive force nature had released tear through his home town; as he heard screams from below; as he heard the sobs from behind... He could only think one coherent thought.

"Haru is gone..."

The rest of his thoughts were of pain.  

At the time, Makoto was sleeping. At first, he thought it was his mother waking him up; that would have been normal for him... But when he heard screaming he knew something was wrong.

~The day before~

"Hey, Haru!" Makoto had been jogging down the boardwalk when he noticed Haru sitting on the beach just looking at the water. It was a little out of character but that wouldn't stop him going over. Haru turned his head in Makoto's direction.

"Makoto..." He couldn't tell if he was surprised or indifferent at this distance.

"You okay?" He asked, walking closer; a couple of  meters away he noticed his fiend's expression. "Haru...?" He looked pretty out of it.

"Something feels wrong." He turned back to stare out at the water, unblinking. Well, there as at least something wrong with Haru, he was passing a chance to swim. _To swim_. This sort of thing didn't really happen.

"If your feeling off, you can always do something normal to balance it out." Haru didn't look at him but Makoto cold see a contemplating look in his eyes. "So, if you don't want to swim, you can come jogging with me." He gave a warm smile hoping it would push his case. Haru looked a little conflicted for a few moments between leaving the beach and ocean and going off jogging with him but it was reassuring in the end for him to be chosen over somewhere with water.

Knowing Haru wasn't as fast on land they left at a steady pace following the coastal route. It was peaceful that evening, everyone was happily completing their last chores under the fading sun before retiring inside.

Occasionally they were greeted by an acquaintance with remarks over the pleasantness of the weather or how nice it was to see them running together again which Makoto replied to gladly. It was nice to be doing this again, just spending time with Haru; not in lessons or training for a competition. Just spending free time together. With all the competitions and final year exams they had been pretty busy but now they were just free to do whatever. It was refreshing for him but he knew just about anything Haru did was _free_ , it made him that bit more special than other people. He just did what he wanted to do, whether that was swim or eat mackerel or just spend time with his friends. Of course, Makoto already knew Haru was special, he'd been around him long enough; he always had been important to him so it was nice to have the hints that, just maybe, he was special to Haru too.

As the Sun started to set, Haru pulled behind. Makoto stopping himself a little further ahead to stare behind, a little surprised by Haru's abrupt stop.

"You should probably head home, Makoto. Your family will be waiting for you." Makoto seemed to finally notice the building darkness.

"Yeah, it must be getting pretty late, huh? Why don't we jog together until the stairs then?" Haru nodded and with one last glance towards to ocean, caught up to Makoto. They jogged in silence until Makoto's house where they gave their usual brief goodbyes and went their separate ways.

It was a usual dinner for Makoto too. Waiting for their meal, the twins bombarded Makoto with questions over Haru before eventually getting bored and whispering to each other; he had the sinking suspicion that it was about them having the development of 'late night jogs'. Deciding the topic needed changing, he quickly asked his dad how his job was going. After dinner it wasn't long before he was in bed and asleep.

That's when it happened. At the time, Makoto was sleeping. At first, he thought it was his mother waking him up; that would have been normal for him... But when he heard screaming he knew something was wrong. It had been the violent shaking that first woke him up; then the screams and the crashes. After that, the lights went out.

* * *

5:46am, Iwatobi, normally considered a safe zone, was hit by an earthquake. 7.2 on the Richter scale with an epicentre approximately 20km out to sea.

Many lost their lives in the 30 seconds the earthquake lasted and many more were killed and injured by the falling buildings, shattering glass and other debris.

It was preceded by 3 aftershocks that killed even more. Despite the town's sparse population, there was no mercy from the forces of nature.

 

Despite the darkness, Makoto jumped out of his bed. His first thoughts were of his family, and of Haru. He stumbled around blindly, eyes stinging and lungs burning from the unsettled dust and plaster in the air. When his eyes grew accustomed, he could see clearly that some of his roof had fallen in.

"REN? RAN?" He called, bursting out his door. He heard a weak reply coming from the bedroom soon joined by the voices of his parents calling all their names. He crashed into his siblings' room to find then huddled on Ran's bed, tears streaming down their faces.

"Come on guys, this way. We've got to get to mum and dad." As if on cue he heard a crash and approaching footsteps. Soon his parents hurdled in, crooning over them after finding their children safe. After a few brief moments he heard his father's voice.

"We've got to get outside; into open space." He sounded a little detached from the situation but then again, none of it seemed real. The group staggered out into the corridor towards the stairs only to find them blocked, yet another spot where the roof had collapsed in.

"Wait a second, I'm going to get a ladder." Makoto reassured his family before lifting himself over the banister, as the tallest it made sense; he would, after all, have the shortest drop. Landing heavily, Makoto quickly observed the damage downstairs before fetching the ladder. He brought it back, setting in front of where his family were standing, helping the twins down first then his mother then his father. His father then continued to herd the all outside onto the road. 

Other families were already there, some weren't. The actual road itself had a rift and cars were overturned. He saw people looking afraid, people crying, people calling for help. He did the best he could shifting rubble before he realised one, incredibly significant detail missing. Haru. He wasn't on the streets yet, was he trapped?

"I'm going after Haru!" He called, checking for acknowledgement before running up the stairs. He took a second in his running to look at the town, he could already see raging fires and the futile attempts to extinguish them as well as other rescue parties, it was almost encouraging to see such community spirit. When he reached the Nanase residence, he saw their roof had also collapsed but the house had solid foundations and was made mostly from stone and other solid materials, most of it should be ok. He hurdled inside.

"HARU! HARU!" Makoto sprinted up to his friend room dodging the scattered debris and the parts of celling that continued to fall. He burst into the room.

"HARU!" It was... Empty. Was this good or bad? He searched the rest of the house, briefly checking the rubble for signs of life. Where else could Haru be this early?

 

Haru was on the beach when it happened. He couldn't sleep and journeyed outside to find solace in the ocean's presence; this time he had gone to the cove, or rather on top of it, on a raised platform of stone nearing the size of a cliff. His natural reaction was to panic when the very earth starting shaking him, throwing his body around like a ragdoll. He might have been fine if he wasn't by the rocks. His head hit the stone with a sickening crack and he fell still. Lying by the edge helpless, his vision fading, Haru found himself overwhelmed with one thought. The image of a bright smile, soft hair and green eyes.

"Makoto..." 

He woke up a little later. His attempts to sit up only met by a sharp pain in his head. He brought his hand up to the source of the pain to find it slick with blood, some already matting his hair. No wonder his head hurt. Acknowledging his situation, Haru instead turned to the ocean once more, only to see a large wave heading in his direction. Objectively, he through 'large wave' was probably a mild expression for a building tsunami. With renewed motivation, Haru ignored his throbbing head to stand up and haphazardly stagger towards higher ground, occasionally swaying. He didn't fancy dying today.

Makoto had been helping find and save the trapped when he heard the call.

"Tsunami!"

The one word was all that was needed to turn everyone's eyes to the ocean. It was coming fast, already 10 meters or so  as it entered the shallow water; it would only keep growing. The rescue attempts doubled in the citizen's desperation and some people were already ushering the kids and elderly over to higher ground. The wave was almost at the beach now and everyone around him were showing clear signs of panic and distress; they were, after all, only human. He was passed by other families, couples and  groups from around the town as he continued to throw aside rubble, somehow hoping to find Haru alive, just buried beneath. It was only a few moment that he was dragged away by his father, his mother had already taken Ren and Ran to the top of the hill. When people saw his desperate reluctance to leave, he was taken away forcefully. After reaching the top of the hill, Makoto looked back over to the ocean before something, someone, caught his attention. There was a small figure stumbling away from the wave; even from this distance it was unmistakably Haru. What had he been doing on the beach? It was barely 6am! He rushed forward to find himself restrained by strong hands; distantly hearing the warning not to go down there as he struggled to escape. The wave hit the shore. Haru was hardly beyond the edge of the beach when he was caught up in the tsunami's assault. He watched his friend get engulfed in the water. He watched him disappear from in front of his eyes. Haru was gone. Nothing else seemed relevant now. Even as he watched the destructive force nature had released tear through his home town; as he heard screams from below; as he heard the sobs from behind... Only one coherent thought occupied his head.

"Haru is gone..."

 

The rest of his thoughts were of pain.


	2. Alone in a Crowd

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How did I leave out angst from the tags? I mean, how distracted could I have been? Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

 

 Haru could hear the roar of the wave behind him, It was like a beast, and it was after him. Walking was painful, running unbearable; his head pounding with every step he took. The boardwalk was in his sights, it couldn't have been more than 75 meters; but it seemed like such a impossible distance. The noise was louder now, drawing closer; he didn't need to look behind himself to know it was closing the distance, fast.

He was nearing the boardwalk now. If he could make it there, find shelter or a handhold, just buy himself more time, he could make it; 5 meters now... 4... 3... 2... The water had caught up. Desperately, Haru threw himself forward. Debris had piled up and fallen over the fence; someone's doom, his salvation. It was a hard landing but he was just able to grab hold of an unhinged door before the water engulfed him.

* * *

Makoto had been told he was in shock. Of course, it was a usual assumption to make when you found someone walking blankly though wreckage whispering a certain name as they occasionally lifted up debris. He know it was a somewhat hopeless search but  he had to. He had to.

Everyone had come round. Rin, Nagisa, Rei, Gou... They'd asked if he was ok, if Haru was okay. He had been sitting in a temporary hotel, curled up on a sofa with the twins under a blanket, and they'd asked about Haru. They probably already knew; maybe they just didn't want to believe he was ok or trick themselves into thinking so. Makoto wanted to believe too. He heard Haru's parents had found out; of course they had, it was everywhere after all. What he wasn't sure about was whether they knew about Haru. He didn't think he could tell them.

It was Rin that had found him out wandering. He'd been standing in the rubble looking out to the ocean. He could have been half in shock himself, the stench of death still heavy in the air and the distant look in his eyes. It wouldn't have half surprised him, he was almost the same. Only he'd seen it; it made it a lot harder to lie to himself.

"You're in shock." Rin stated, he'd already been told that.

"You too." It was _pretty_ obvious.

"He's... He's gone, isn't he?" It was obvious here too; Rin, begging, pleading that he was wrong. That Haru was alive. But Makoto couldn't give that to him. There was only one option, he'd have to tell him; if only he knew how. Makoto looked down hesitantly, it seemed that was enough. The tears started falling and they weren't letting up.

* * *

Haru woke up to water, salt and death. Not your usual morning. Was it even morning? It felt to hot to be. Haru sat up, he also fell of his debris raft and into the frigid water. The cold plunge removed any remnants of sleep Haru still felt; shivering, he pulled himself back on the... What? The door? Was he on a door? Desperate times. Crouching he made another attempt at his original goal, looking around. Wood amongst other materials, people's possessions, even a small bobbing child's doll but everywhere, _everywhere_ he looked, there were bodies. Strewn in the wreckage and the water, they were unavoidable. He leant over the side and retched. He felt the need to apologize but there was no-one left to apologize to, not alive at least. So instead he apologized to the dead and far away.

"I'm sorry... Sorry Makoto. Sorry Rin. Nagisa, Rei, Gou... Sorry." He was starting to feel tired again. "Sorry, everyone... I'm so, so sorry..." Amongst the rotting bodies, the churning waves and seagulls' cries, Haru's eyes drifted shut, trapping him in dreams of the beach before.

The next time he woke, he tried to extend his scope further. Even up to the horizon, there was no sign of land; just of the debris he drifted away from. His makeshift raft wasn't strong enough for him to stand, so he attempted to stretch his legs sitting down. He wanted to swim, just float in the water but he couldn't bring himself to. It would mean joining the others, the dead; he found the thought repellent and the action disrespectful. Even without the rotting bodies, if he got into the water, he couldn't guarantee he'd have the strength to get back out again.

Then again, when was the last time he ate anything? Drank anything? Seawater was off the menu, cannibalism more so. If his hunger pains were any indication of the time he'd already spent at sea, he'd wager he'd been stranded for maybe 3, maybe 4 days. He couldn't tell the distance he'd travelled, was he close enough for rescue or would he turn up in the body recovery search with the rest of the others. He'd drifted quite far from the scene he'd been in yesterday, objectively he wondered how far he'd drift the next.

Turning his focus back to survival, Haru considered gathering resources; especially before he was carried to far.  He shuffled and stumbled across the debris avoiding bodies, he found some snack food but no water; at least no fresh water. He also found enough ripped fabric to weave. He returned to his door; settling himself back down, he started to rip and twine the various fabrics. Eventually he'd woven a rope of sorts and a hat, really just a small square of sheet with knots at the corners covering his head. He had high doubts about whether or not it was fashionable. But, nevertheless, he had rope. It was time to expand.

Unfortunately, there weren't any more doors. Supressing his disappointment, he had gathered a headboard and what might have once been part of a desk, or maybe a bookcase, he would just have to accept he'd never know. 

He strapped them together with his rope to try and support his door's structure, It looked... okay? Rei would never call this beautiful. It was with a pang of guilt he remembered his friends.  He'd almost forgotten. So concerned about himself he'd forgotten his friends. To be fair, he wasn't in an easy situation; many, including himself, would consider this fairly traumatic. Naturally, he may have already fallen to insanity which would have softened the blow.

And here he was, forgetting his friends again. Yeah, insanity seemed more likely. They could be dead. _Dead_. He had already turned over the nearby bodies he found, looking for familiar faces and struggling in a vain attempt to keep the carrion birds away. Every time he felt a little more tainted, the salt water unable to wash away the sensation. These morbid thought had already crossed his mind a couple of times but everyone of them brought a fresh wave of pain. A world without them just seemed that much... sadder. He had decided to be frugal with his food, try to ration his supply out. He hadn't had any of it yet but now with the raw pain he felt, he decided he deserved it. The snack bar was hardly nutritional but it helped. If anything it gave him a little energy but he knew sugar-rushes weren't long-lasting; definitely not a long term solution.

An hour of scavenging later, Haru considered fishing. He had learnt how to before with Makoto; only using a fishing pole, he supposed, would be a lot different from using a improvised spear. He might be able to swim out and catch some with his hands, or maybe some sharp object or makeshift net but the exhaustion made it hard to find the motivation. Even though he hadn't had mackerel for a while, he just couldn't do it.

* * *

 A few more days went by and his food supply dwindled. Living of one bar of sugary fakery a day was both detrimental to his energy levels and his health; his salt stiffened clothes starting to hang of his already thin frame. Not only that, but he was also facing severe dehydration. Constant headaches and a sickening dizziness when he tried to sit up plagued him, combined with chapped lips, dry eyes and the general stench of death and rot, his experience was hellish. He knew he was slowly dying. He couldn't help but consider the irony of it all. A boy who loves water dying of dehydration, surrounded by water.

"Ugh..." Yep, that was his current emotion verbalised.

His willpower caved the next day. He just couldn't do it. Couldn't last through the excruciatingly slow and painful death. But he didn't feel that many people were in the position to judge him them, so he drank salt water.

 Salt was necessary for the human body, but only in small quantities; it was one of life's hated two-edged swords. He knew what would happen. The salt, or rather sodium chloride, would be consumed in high levels due to it's high concentration in the seawater. As the sodium would be detrimental to his health, his body would use more water to dilute it  which would all be expelled as waste; he would then need more water to maintain the amount needed for his body to function. As the only source was still seawater he wouldn't be able to replace the water lost. Essentially, he'd sped up his death. Now it was just inevitable... that was now one his least favourite words, _'inevitable'_. Now joining 'goodbye', 'dead' and 'Kisumi'.

Before his time ran out, he decided to venture on another round of 'search for clean, fresh water'; a new, self-invented game of his. The last few days were fruitless and he still found no sign of rescue planes or helicopters but he had a somewhat optimistic dream last night, maybe things would get better. Makoto had been there, holding out a hand  for him.

_"Come on, Haru."_ Softly spoken words that were so painfully familiar to him; only he couldn't tell if, in the dream, he'd been getting of an aircraft or passing through he gates of heaven. That sucked. But then  he saw it, a bottle. A _full_ bottle. Bobbing closer, eventually coming into his grasp. Well, at least for now, Haru had delayed the inevitable. He couldn't help but smirk.

* * *

Haru's parents hadn't known. They'd only heard abut the earthquake and tsunami. He had been angry at first, angrier than he'd been in a long time; they'd taken such a long time to come, to 'find the time'. He couldn't keep it up though. Not when he saw them find out about their son. It was the first time he'd seen them show regret over travelling all these years, for not knowing their son better, for not being with him. His family had survived, but it wasn't made easy to forget that other peoples' hadn't.

They'd put bouquets amongst the wreckage, small toys and candles too as well as the victims' photo too. There was a worrying amount at the school. They had all gone there, paying their respects, even Rin. There were others there to, crying and mourning their friends. The death count wasn't certain yet, still interlinked with the missing; he saw a lot of undecided and conflicted faces as well as the more disheartening certainty he saw in others. He was almost completely immersed in the faces of others that he didn't notice the tug on his sleeve at first.

"Makoto..."

"Nagisa?" There was no reply. Instead, Makoto followed his friend's line of sight to the pile of offerings for the deceased. His friends' silence made sense to him as he to paled. Haru's picture was among the others. They'd called him in, dead.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for spelling mistakes and OOCness but I hope you've enjoyed reading this chapter.

**Author's Note:**

> Naturally when you have an OTP you write nice fanfics with lots of fluff, then you put them through the worst events of their lives. Sorry for any mistakes or OOCness. I'm still trying to improve so all feedback is appreciated.


End file.
